Afrikaners mark pilgrimage, day

THOUSANDS of Afrikaners, descendants of the first European settlers in South Africa, celebrated on Tuesday the "Day of the Vow" - a founding myth with values shared by US President Donald Trump's administration, which has offered the group protection.

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On a hill overlooking the capital Pretoria, an announcer boasted that some 37 000 Afrikaners had gathered at the Voortrekker Monument, commemorating the migration of Dutch-speaking settlers.

The crowd included men dressed in short-sleeved shirts and khaki shorts and women wearing traditional Voortrekker dresses, similar to that of their pioneer ancestors.

"We just decided to come today because it felt like the right thing to do: to come and enjoy this important day in our language," mechanic Johan Reid, 24, said, on his first pilgrimage accompanied by his fiance.

"It's a hard time now to be an Afrikaner with the politics that's going on in South Africa - you know what Donald Trump is saying."

US Vice President JD Vance was due to visit the monument during last month's G20 summit before Trump decided to boycott the event, claiming Afrikaners were "being killed and massacred".

Sticking to that position despite evidence to the contrary, Washington blocked South Africa from participating in the G20's first technical meetings under its leadership Monday and Tuesday.

Treks and destiny